Our Approach

Everyone and every thing has a story — and a biographer has the skill set to tell it. Biographies have historically been reserved for the elite: politicians, corporations, literary luminaries, titans of industry, inventors, sports and movie stars. No longer. BIOGRAPHY BY DESIGN was founded on a belief that every story, not just the newsmakers’, deserves to be told with professional care and precision, and always with the support and approval of our commissioning clients.

— Individuals, couples & families: A woman starts an art gallery in a Virginia city because she sees a way to connect the ferment of visual creation with buyers hungry to own it. A Chicago couple marks a Golden Wedding anniversary with the story of their romance and rich life together in the Windy City. A California family’s history starts with great-great grandparents who arrived in California for the Gold Rush and built a political and agricultural legacy, one generation at a time.

— Nonprofits: A nonprofit begins over coffee in Silicon Valley with the germ of an idea to effect social change through education reform. To scale up to the next level, it needs to appeal to major donors. How? Tell the story of why — and how — it did what it did in a compelling, persuasive narrative.

— Corporations, Institutions & Other Organizations: A corporation is created in a garage by a genius who sets out to build a better microchip that radically alters the way the world does business. A settlement house in NYC’s East Harlem, founded in 1895, continues to serve a vibrant community of America’s newest immigrants. The oldest country club in America starts on the banks of the Hudson River with a group of robber barons who figure out a better way to have fun.

We will honor your history, preserving treasured memories and accomplishments for generations to come.